AI For Business Analytics

AI For Business Analytics — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

  • Directional cubic convolution interpolation

    Directional cubic convolution interpolation

    Directional cubic convolution interpolation (DCCI) is an edge-directed image scaling algorithm created by Dengwen Zhou and Xiaoliu Shen. By taking into account the edges in an image, this scaling algorithm reduces artifacts common to other image scaling algorithms. For example, staircase artifacts on diagonal lines and curves are eliminated. The algorithm resizes an image to 2x its original dimensions, minus 1.

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  • Dynamic topic model

    Dynamic topic model

    Within statistics, Dynamic topic models' are generative models that can be used to analyze the evolution of (unobserved) topics of a collection of documents over time. This family of models was proposed by David Blei and John Lafferty and is an extension to Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) that can handle sequential documents. In LDA, both the order the words appear in a document and the order the documents appear in the corpus are oblivious to the model. Whereas words are still assumed to be exchangeable, in a dynamic topic model the order of the documents plays a fundamental role. More precisely, the documents are grouped by time slice (e.g.: years) and it is assumed that the documents of each group come from a set of topics that evolved from the set of the previous slice. == Topics == Similarly to LDA and pLSA, in a dynamic topic model, each document is viewed as a mixture of unobserved topics. Furthermore, each topic defines a multinomial distribution over a set of terms. Thus, for each word of each document, a topic is drawn from the mixture and a term is subsequently drawn from the multinomial distribution corresponding to that topic. The topics, however, evolve over time. For instance, the two most likely terms of a topic at time t could be "network" and "Zipf" (in descending order) while the most likely ones at time t+1 could be "Zipf" and "percolation" (in descending order). == Model == Define α t {\displaystyle \alpha _{t}} as the per-document topic distribution at time t. β t , k {\displaystyle \beta _{t,k}} as the word distribution of topic k at time t. η t , d {\displaystyle \eta _{t,d}} as the topic distribution for document d in time t, z t , d , n {\displaystyle z_{t,d,n}} as the topic for the nth word in document d in time t, and w t , d , n {\displaystyle w_{t,d,n}} as the specific word. In this model, the multinomial distributions α t + 1 {\displaystyle \alpha _{t+1}} and β t + 1 , k {\displaystyle \beta _{t+1,k}} are generated from α t {\displaystyle \alpha _{t}} and β t , k {\displaystyle \beta _{t,k}} , respectively. Even though multinomial distributions are usually written in terms of the mean parameters, representing them in terms of the natural parameters is better in the context of dynamic topic models. The former representation has some disadvantages due to the fact that the parameters are constrained to be non-negative and sum to one. When defining the evolution of these distributions, one would need to assure that such constraints were satisfied. Since both distributions are in the exponential family, one solution to this problem is to represent them in terms of the natural parameters, that can assume any real value and can be individually changed. Using the natural parameterization, the dynamics of the topic model are given by β t , k | β t − 1 , k ∼ N ( β t − 1 , k , σ 2 I ) {\displaystyle \beta _{t,k}|\beta _{t-1,k}\sim N(\beta _{t-1,k},\sigma ^{2}I)} and α t | α t − 1 ∼ N ( α t − 1 , δ 2 I ) {\displaystyle \alpha _{t}|\alpha _{t-1}\sim N(\alpha _{t-1},\delta ^{2}I)} . The generative process at time slice 't' is therefore: Draw topics β t , k | β t − 1 , k ∼ N ( β t − 1 , k , σ 2 I ) ∀ k {\displaystyle \beta _{t,k}|\beta _{t-1,k}\sim N(\beta _{t-1,k},\sigma ^{2}I)\forall k} Draw mixture model α t | α t − 1 ∼ N ( α t − 1 , δ 2 I ) {\displaystyle \alpha _{t}|\alpha _{t-1}\sim N(\alpha _{t-1},\delta ^{2}I)} For each document: Draw η t , d ∼ N ( α t , a 2 I ) {\displaystyle \eta _{t,d}\sim N(\alpha _{t},a^{2}I)} For each word: Draw topic Z t , d , n ∼ Mult ( π ( η t , d ) ) {\displaystyle Z_{t,d,n}\sim {\textrm {Mult}}(\pi (\eta _{t,d}))} Draw word W t , d , n ∼ Mult ( π ( β t , Z t , d , n ) ) {\displaystyle W_{t,d,n}\sim {\textrm {Mult}}(\pi (\beta _{t,Z_{t,d,n}}))} where π ( x ) {\displaystyle \pi (x)} is a mapping from the natural parameterization x to the mean parameterization, namely π ( x i ) = exp ⁡ ( x i ) ∑ i exp ⁡ ( x i ) {\displaystyle \pi (x_{i})={\frac {\exp(x_{i})}{\sum _{i}\exp(x_{i})}}} . == Inference == In the dynamic topic model, only W t , d , n {\displaystyle W_{t,d,n}} is observable. Learning the other parameters constitutes an inference problem. Blei and Lafferty argue that applying Gibbs sampling to do inference in this model is more difficult than in static models, due to the nonconjugacy of the Gaussian and multinomial distributions. They propose the use of variational methods, in particular, the Variational Kalman Filtering and the Variational Wavelet Regression. == Applications == In the original paper, a dynamic topic model is applied to the corpus of Science articles published between 1881 and 1999 aiming to show that this method can be used to analyze the trends of word usage inside topics. The authors also show that the model trained with past documents is able to fit documents of an incoming year better than LDA. A continuous dynamic topic model was developed by Wang et al. and applied to predict the timestamp of documents. Going beyond text documents, dynamic topic models were used to study musical influence, by learning musical topics and how they evolve in recent history.

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  • The Best Free AI Marketing Tool for Beginners

    The Best Free AI Marketing Tool for Beginners

    Looking for the best AI marketing tool? An AI marketing tool is software that uses machine learning to help you get more done — it can save you hours every week by automating repetitive work. Most options offer a generous free tier, with paid plans unlocking higher limits, faster processing, and team features. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, the right AI marketing tool slots into your workflow and pays for itself fast. Read on for hands-on impressions, pricing tiers, and the standout features that matter.

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  • Rob Fergus

    Rob Fergus

    Rob Fergus is a British-American computer scientist working primarily in the fields of machine learning, deep learning, representational learning, and generative models. He is a professor of computer science at Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (NYU) and a research scientist at DeepMind. Fergus developed ZFNet in 2013 together with M.D. Zeiler, his PhD student in NYU. Fergus co-founded Meta AI (then known as Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR)) along with Yann Le Cun in September 2013. In 2009, Rob Fergus co-founded the Computational Intelligence, Learning, Vision, and Robotics (CILVR) Lab at NYU along with Yann Le Cun. == Awards and recognition == Rob Fergus has been recognized in academia and received the following awards: NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Sloan Research Fellowship Test-of-time awards at ECCV, CVPR and ICLR == Notable PhD students == Matt Zeiler (Clarifai founder) Wojciech Zaremba (OpenAI co-founder) Denis Yarats (Perplexity co-founder) Alex Rives (EvolutionaryScale co-founder; faculty at MIT)

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  • Video imprint (computer vision)

    Video imprint (computer vision)

    Proposed as an extension of image epitomes in the field of video content analysis, video imprint is obtained by recasting video contents into a fixed-sized tensor representation regardless of video resolution or duration. Specifically, statistical characteristics are retained to some degrees so that common video recognition tasks can be carried out directly on such imprints, e.g., event retrieval, temporal action localization. It is claimed that both spatio-temporal interdependences are accounted for and redundancies are mitigated during the computation of video imprints. The option of computing video imprints exploiting the epitome model has the advantage of more flexible input feature formats and more efficient training stage for video content analysis.

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  • Co-Büchi automaton

    Co-Büchi automaton

    In automata theory, a co-Büchi automaton is a variant of Büchi automaton. The only difference is the accepting condition: a Co-Büchi automaton accepts an infinite word w {\displaystyle w} if there exists a run, such that all the states occurring infinitely often in the run are in the final state set F {\displaystyle F} . In contrast, a Büchi automaton accepts a word w {\displaystyle w} if there exists a run, such that at least one state occurring infinitely often in the final state set F {\displaystyle F} . (Deterministic) Co-Büchi automata are strictly weaker than (nondeterministic) Büchi automata. == Formal definition == Formally, a deterministic co-Büchi automaton is a tuple A = ( Q , Σ , δ , q 0 , F ) {\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}=(Q,\Sigma ,\delta ,q_{0},F)} that consists of the following components: Q {\displaystyle Q} is a finite set. The elements of Q {\displaystyle Q} are called the states of A {\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}} . Σ {\displaystyle \Sigma } is a finite set called the alphabet of A {\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}} . δ : Q × Σ → Q {\displaystyle \delta :Q\times \Sigma \rightarrow Q} is the transition function of A {\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}} . q 0 {\displaystyle q_{0}} is an element of Q {\displaystyle Q} , called the initial state. F ⊆ Q {\displaystyle F\subseteq Q} is the final state set. A {\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}} accepts exactly those words w {\displaystyle w} with the run ρ ( w ) {\displaystyle \rho (w)} , in which all of the infinitely often occurring states in ρ ( w ) {\displaystyle \rho (w)} are in F {\displaystyle F} . In a non-deterministic co-Büchi automaton, the transition function δ {\displaystyle \delta } is replaced with a transition relation Δ {\displaystyle \Delta } . The initial state q 0 {\displaystyle q_{0}} is replaced with an initial state set Q 0 {\displaystyle Q_{0}} . Generally, the term co-Büchi automaton refers to the non-deterministic co-Büchi automaton. For more comprehensive formalism see also ω-automaton. == Acceptance Condition == The acceptance condition of a co-Büchi automaton is formally ∃ i ∀ j : j ≥ i ρ ( w j ) ∈ F . {\displaystyle \exists i\forall j:\;j\geq i\quad \rho (w_{j})\in F.} The Büchi acceptance condition is the complement of the co-Büchi acceptance condition: ∀ i ∃ j : j ≥ i ρ ( w j ) ∈ F . {\displaystyle \forall i\exists j:\;j\geq i\quad \rho (w_{j})\in F.} == Properties == Co-Büchi automata are closed under union, intersection, projection and determinization.

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  • Round-trip translation

    Round-trip translation

    Round-trip translation (RTT), also known as back-and-forth translation, recursive translation and bi-directional translation, is the process of translating a word, phrase or text into another language (forward translation), then translating the result back into the original language (back translation), using machine translation (MT) software. It is often used by laypeople to evaluate a machine translation system, or to test whether a text is suitable for MT when they are unfamiliar with the target language. Because the resulting text can often differ substantially from the original, RTT can also be a source of entertainment. == Software quality == To compare the quality of different machine translation systems, users perform RTT and compare the resulting text to the original. The theory is that the closer the result of the RTT is to the original text, the higher the quality of the machine translation system. One of the problems with this technique is that if there is a problem with the resulting text it is impossible to know whether the error occurred in the forward translation, in the back translation, or in both. In addition, it is possible to get a good back translation from a bad forward translation. A study using the automatic evaluation methods BLEU and F-score compared five different free online translation programs, evaluating the quality of both the forward translation and the back translation, and found no correlation between the quality of the forward translation and the quality of the back translation (i.e., a high quality forward translation did not always correspond to a high quality back translation). The author concluded that RTT was a poor method of predicting the quality of machine translation software. This conclusion was reinforced by a more in-depth study also using automatic evaluation methods. A subsequent study which included human evaluation of the back translation in addition to automatic evaluation methods found that RTT might have some ability to predict the quality of a machine translation system not on a sentence-by-sentence basis but for larger texts. == Suitability of text for machine translation == It is also suggested that RTT can be used to determine whether a text is suitable for machine translation. The idea being that if RTT results in a text that is close to the original, the text is suitable for MT. If after using RTT, the resulting text is inaccurate, the source text can then be edited until a satisfactory result is achieved. One of the studies looking at RTT as a means of measuring MT system quality also looked at its ability to predict whether a text was suitable for machine translation. It found that using different types of text also did not result in any correlation between the quality of the forward translation and the quality of the back translation. In contrast another study using human evaluation found that there was a correlation between the quality of the forward translation and the back translation and that this correlation could be used to estimate the quality of the forward translation. This correlation could be used to estimate the quality of the forward translation and by simplifying the source text, improve the quality of the forward translation. == Entertainment == Although the use of RTT for assessing MT system quality or the suitability of a text for MT is in doubt, it is a way to have fun with machine translation. The text produced from an RTT can be comically bad. At one time websites existed for the sole purpose of performing RTT for fun. Other variations send the text through several languages before translating it back into the original or continue translating the text back and forth until it reaches equilibrium (i.e., the result of the back translation is identical to the text used for the forward translation). RTT as entertainment appeared in Philip K. Dick's novel Galactic Pot-Healer. The main character runs book titles and sayings through RTT then has his friends try to guess the original. The Australian television show Spicks and Specks had a contest called "Turning Japanese" which used RTT on song lyrics. Contestants needed to correctly guess the title of the song from which the lyrics were taken.

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  • Volker Markl

    Volker Markl

    Volker Markl (born 1971) is a German computer scientist and database systems researcher. == Career == In 1999, Markl received his PhD in computer science under the direction of Rudolf Bayer at the Technical University of Munich. His doctoral research led to the development of the UB-Tree. From 1997 to 2000, he was research group leader at FORWISS, the Bavarian research center for knowledge-based systems. From 2001 to 2008, he was project leader at the IBM Almaden Research Center, Silicon Valley. Since 2008, he has been full professor and Chair of the Database Systems and Information Management Group at Technische Universität Berlin. Since 2014, he is head of the Intelligent Analytics for Massive Data Research Department at the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Berlin. From 2014 to 2020, he was director of the Berlin Big Data Center (BBDC). From 2018 to 2020, he was co-director of the Berlin Machine Learning Center (BZML). Together with Klaus-Robert Müller he became director of the new Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD), after both BBDC and the BZML merged into BIFOLD in 2020. From 2010 through 2019, he led the DFG funded Stratosphere project, which led to the establishment of Apache Flink. In 2018, he was elected president of the VLDB Endowment for a six years period that ended in 2024. == Research == Markl’s research interests lie at the intersection of distributed systems, scalable data processing, and machine learning. == Awards and honors == Markl was elected member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 2021. Since 2026 he is member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. His work was honoured with several awards, including: 2025 ICDE Best Paper Award 2021 ICDE Best Paper Award 2021 BTW Best Paper Award 2020 ACM SIGMOD Best Paper Award 2020 ACM Fellow 2019 EDBT Best Paper Award 2017 BTW Best Paper Award 2017 EDBT Best Demonstration Award 2016 ACM SIGMOD Research Highlight Award 2014 VLDB Best Paper Award 2012 IBM Faculty Award 2012 IBM Shared University Research Grant 2010 Hewlett Packard Open Innovation Award 2005 IBM Outstanding Technological Achievement Award 2005 IBM Pat Goldberg Best Paper Award

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  • Dental AI

    Dental AI

    Dental artificial intelligence (Dental AI) refers to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning methods to oral healthcare data. These systems can be used to find patterns or make predictions that can aid in diagnosis, treatment, patient communication, or practice management. == History and development == Research into AI for dentistry dates to the 1990s and 2000s, alongside early CAD/CAM and image-analysis work in dental radiology. Recent developments in deep learning, especially those involving computer vision, such as convolutional neural networks, trained on large image datasets, led to a rapid improvement in performance, as well as a move from prototype technology to productization suitable for use in dental chairs. Dental schools and continuing education programs started incorporating AI content in the 2020s. == Definition and core technologies == The dental AI software accomplishes this task by using various dental images and patient data. Dental images and data used by the dental AI software include bitewing and periapical X-rays, complete mouth X-rays, detailed 3D images, intraoral images, and the patient’s medical history. The dental AI software utilizes several core technologies in accomplishing its task of assisting the dentist. First, the dental AI software utilizes machine learning and deep learning using programs that can learn from examples. Such programs are referred to as convolutional neural network (CNN) and can detect cavities and identify bone changes related to gum disease. The dental AI software utilizes computer vision, which enables the AI software to identify and quantify important features in images and data, whether they are 2D images or 3D images. Natural language processing (NLP) is used for the AI software to understand written text and can automatically generate dental notes and communicate with the patient. Furthermore, the dental AI software utilizes predictive analytics to identify patients that are more prone to dental complications and can suggest the best intervals for checkups or future dental procedures. == Applications in dentistry == Reported clinical and operational applications include diagnostic assistance for caries and periodontal disease, treatment planning assistance, patient education overlays, quality assurance, curriculum assistance for dental education, and claims documentation. Systematic reviews continue to find image-based applications such as caries detection with some variability in study design and a need for prospective validation. == Academic research and clinical validation == Several peer-reviewed studies have measured the effectiveness of AI for applications such as interproximal caries detection and periodontal bone level assessment, showing improvements over unaided readings with a focus on bias within the dataset. The Dental AI Council found variability among clinicians for diagnosis and treatment planning, suggesting the use of a standard tool as an assist. == Industry adoption == Multiple vendors offer FDA-cleared chairside AI for dental imaging: Pearl — Received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for its real-time radiologic aid (“Second Opinion”) in 2022 (2D), with subsequent clearances including pediatric and CBCT (“Second Opinion 3D”). TIME gave “Second Opinion” a special mention on its Best Inventions of 2022 list. Overjet — FDA-cleared for bone-level quantification and detection/outline of caries and calculus (e.g., K210187), with additional clearances expanding capabilities. VideaHealth — Received an FDA 510(k) covering 30+ detections across common dental findings (K232384), including indications for patients ages 3 and up; trade coverage has described elements of this as the first pediatric dental-AI clearance. == Regulations == In the U.S., AI-enabled dental imaging software is generally reviewed via the FDA’s 510(k) pathway. The FDA maintains a public AI-Enabled Medical Devices List, which includes numerous medical-imaging AI tools (including dental). Specific dental clearances include Overjet (K210187), VideaHealth (K232384), and Pearl entries such as “Second Opinion 3D” (K243989).

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  • NFA minimization

    NFA minimization

    In automata theory (a branch of theoretical computer science), NFA minimization is the task of transforming a given nondeterministic finite automaton (NFA) into an equivalent NFA that has a minimum number of states, transitions, or both. While efficient algorithms exist for DFA minimization, NFA minimization is PSPACE-complete. No efficient (polynomial time) algorithms are known, and under the standard assumption that P ≠ PSPACE, none exist. The most efficient known algorithm is the Kameda–Weiner algorithm. == Non-uniqueness of minimal NFA == Unlike deterministic finite automata, minimal NFAs may not be unique. There may be multiple NFAs with the same number of states that accept the same regular language, but for which there is no equivalent NFA or DFA with fewer states.

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  • James Curran (educator)

    James Curran (educator)

    James R. Curran is an Australian computational linguist. He is the former CEO of Grok Academy and previously a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney. He holds a PhD in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh. == Research == Curran's research focuses on natural language processing (NLP), more specifically combinatory categorial grammar and question answering systems. In addition to his contributions to NLP, Curran has produced a paper on the development of search engines to assist in driving problem based learning. == Works == Curran has co-authored software packages such as C&C tools, a CCG parser (with Stephen Clark). == Educational work == In addition to his work as a University of Sydney lecturer, Curran directed the National Computer Science School, an annual summer school for technologically talented high school students. In 2013, based on their work with NCSS, he, Tara Murphy, Nicky Ringland and Tim Dawborn founded Grok Learning. In 2013 he was one of the authors of the Digital Technologies section of the Australian Curriculum - its first appearance in the national curriculum. Additionally, he acted as an advocate for digital literacy among Australian students. He was the academic director of the Australian Computing Academy, a not-for-profit within the University of Sydney until its merger with Grok Learning in 2021 to form Grok Academy. In 2022, Grok Academy under Curran secured a significant amount of funding from Richard White, founder of WiseTech, with the aim of developing new courses and encouraging other large technology companies to donate likewise. In 2024 Curran cohosted an unreleased children's reality TV show called Future Fixers, which Grok was co-producing. The show was abandoned after other producers learned of pre-existing harassment claims against him. == Sexual harassment allegations == In October 2024, he resigned from his position as CEO and board member of Grok Academy after multiple allegations of harassment were substantiated by an independent investigator. It was reported that over a 10-year span there were nine women, including six who were in high school at the time, that allege Curran sent them inappropriate messages. Additionally, it was revealed that a 2019 University of Sydney investigation found 35 cases of harassment, after which he received a warning and a 2024 University of New South Wales investigation was referred to the NSW police, who took no action as they found no criminal wrongdoing by Curran, in part because the students were over 16 at the time of the alleged harassment. In December 2024, Curran said he was “deeply sorry” for his actions.

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  • AI Analytics Tools Reviews: What Actually Works in 2026

    AI Analytics Tools Reviews: What Actually Works in 2026

    Comparing the best AI analytics tool? An AI analytics tool is software that uses machine learning to help you get more done — it lowers the barrier so anyone can produce professional output. Privacy matters too: check whether your data trains the model and whether a no-log or enterprise tier is available. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, the right AI analytics tool slots into your workflow and pays for itself fast. Below we compare features, pricing, and real output so you can choose with confidence.

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  • Biorobotics

    Biorobotics

    Biorobotics is an interdisciplinary science that combines the fields of biomedical engineering, cybernetics, and robotics to develop new technologies that integrate biology with mechanical systems to develop more efficient communication, alter genetic information, and create machines that imitate biological systems. == Cybernetics == Cybernetics focuses on the communication and system of living organisms and machines that can be applied and combined with multiple fields of study such as biology, mathematics, computer science, engineering, and much more. This discipline falls under the branch of biorobotics because of its combined field of study between biological bodies and mechanical systems. Studying these two systems allows for advanced analysis on the functions and processes of each system as well as the interactions between them. === History === Cybernetic theory is a concept that has existed for centuries, dating back to the era of Plato where he applied the term to refer to the "governance of people". The term cybernetique is seen in the mid-1800s used by physicist André-Marie Ampère. The term cybernetics was popularized in the late 1940s to refer to a discipline that touched on, but was separate, from established disciplines, such as electrical engineering, mathematics, and biology. === Science === Cybernetics is often misunderstood because of the breadth of disciplines it covers. In the early 20th century, it was coined as an interdisciplinary field of study that combines biology, science, network theory, and engineering. Today, it covers all scientific fields with system related processes. The goal of cybernetics is to analyze systems and processes of any system or systems in an attempt to make them more efficient and effective. === Applications === Cybernetics is used as an umbrella term so applications extend to all systems related scientific fields such as biology, mathematics, computer science, engineering, management, psychology, sociology, art, and more. Cybernetics is used amongst several fields to discover principles of systems, adaptation of organisms, information analysis and much more. == Genetic engineering == Genetic engineering is a field that uses advances in technology to modify biological organisms. Through different methods, scientists are able to alter the genetic material of microorganisms, plants and animals to provide them with desirable traits. For example, making plants grow bigger, better, and faster. Genetic engineering is included in biorobotics because it uses new technologies to alter biology and change an organism's DNA for their and society's benefit. === History === Although humans have modified genetic material of animals and plants through artificial selection for millennia (such as the genetic mutations that developed teosinte into corn and wolves into dogs), genetic engineering refers to the deliberate alteration or insertion of specific genes to an organism's DNA. The first successful case of genetic engineering occurred in 1973 when Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen were able to transfer a gene with antibiotic resistance to a bacterium. === Science === There are three main techniques used in genetic engineering: The plasmid method, the vector method and the biolistic method. ==== Plasmid method ==== This technique is used mainly for microorganisms such as bacteria. Through this method, DNA molecules called plasmids are extracted from bacteria and placed in a lab where restriction enzymes break them down. As the enzymes do this, some develop a rough edge that resembles that of a staircase which is considered 'sticky' and capable of reconnecting. These 'sticky' molecules are inserted into another bacteria where they will connect to the DNA rings with the altered genetic material. ==== Vector method ==== The vector method is considered a more precise technique than the plasmid method as it involves the transfer of a specific gene instead of a whole sequence. In the vector method, a specific gene from a DNA strand is isolated through restriction enzymes in a laboratory and is inserted into a vector. Once the vector accepts the genetic code, it is inserted into the host cell where the DNA will be transferred. ==== Biolistic method ==== The biolistic method is typically used to alter the genetic material of plants. This method embeds the desired DNA with a metallic particle such as gold or tungsten in a high speed gun. The particle is then bombarded into the plant. Due to the high velocities and the vacuum generated during bombardment, the particle is able to penetrate the cell wall and inserts the new DNA into the cell. === Applications === Genetic engineering has many uses in the fields of medicine, research and agriculture. In the medical field, genetically modified bacteria are used to produce drugs such as insulin, human growth hormones and vaccines. In research, scientists genetically modify organisms to observe physical and behavioral changes to understand the function of specific genes. In agriculture, genetic engineering is extremely important as it is used by farmers to grow crops that are resistant to herbicides and to insects such as BTCorn. == Bionics == Bionics is a medical engineering field and a branch of biorobotics consisting of electrical and mechanical systems that imitate biological systems, such as prosthetics and hearing aids. It's a portmanteau that combines biology and electronics. === History === The history of bionics goes as far back in time as ancient Egypt. A prosthetic toe made out of wood and leather was found on the foot of a mummy. The time period of the mummy corpse was estimated to be from around the fifteenth century B.C. Bionics can also be witnessed in ancient Greece and Rome. Prosthetic legs and arms were made for amputee soldiers. In the early 16th century, a French military surgeon by the name of Ambroise Pare became a pioneer in the field of bionics. He was known for making various types of upper and lower prosthetics. One of his most famous prosthetics, Le Petit Lorrain, was a mechanical hand operated by catches and springs. During the early 19th century, Alessandro Volta further progressed bionics. He set the foundation for the creation of hearing aids with his experiments. He found that electrical stimulation could restore hearing by inserting an electrical implant to the saccular nerve of a patient's ear. In 1945, the National Academy of Sciences created the Artificial Limb Program, which focused on improving prosthetics since there were a large number of World War II amputee soldiers. Since this creation, prosthetic materials, computer design methods, and surgical procedures have improved, creating modern-day bionics. === Science === ==== Prosthetics ==== The important components that make up modern-day prosthetics are the pylon, the socket, and the suspension system. The pylon is the internal frame of the prosthetic that is made up of metal rods or carbon-fiber composites. The socket is the part of the prosthetic that connects the prosthetic to the person's missing limb. The socket consists of a soft liner that makes the fit comfortable, but also snug enough to stay on the limb. The suspension system is important in keeping the prosthetic on the limb. The suspension system is usually a harness system made up of straps, belts or sleeves that are used to keep the limb attached. The operation of a prosthetic could be designed in various ways. The prosthetic could be body-powered, externally-powered, or myoelectrically powered. Body-powered prosthetics consist of cables attached to a strap or harness, which is placed on the person's functional shoulder, allowing the person to manipulate and control the prosthetic as he or she deems fit. Externally-powered prosthetics consist of motors to power the prosthetic and buttons and switches to control the prosthetic. Myoelectrically powered prosthetics are new, advanced forms of prosthetics where electrodes are placed on the muscles above the limb. The electrodes will detect the muscle contractions and send electrical signals to the prosthetic to move the prosthetic. The downside to this type of prosthetic is that if the sensors are not placed correctly on the limb then the electrical impulses will fail to move the prosthetic. TrueLimb is a specific brand of prosthetics that uses myoelectrical sensors which enable a person to have control of their bionic limb. ==== Hearing aids ==== Four major components make up the hearing aid: the microphone, the amplifier, the receiver, and the battery. The microphone takes in outside sound, turns that sound to electrical signals, and sends those signals to the amplifier. The amplifier increases the sound and sends that sound to the receiver. The receiver changes the electrical signal back into sound and sends the sound into the ear. Hair cells in the ear will sense the vibrations from the sound, convert the vibrations into nerve signals, and send it to the brain so

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  • Marius Lindauer

    Marius Lindauer

    Marius Lindauer (born December 25, 1985, in Berlin, Germany) is a German computer scientist and professor of machine learning at the institute of artificial intelligence of the Leibniz University Hannover. He is known for his research on Automated Machine Learning and other meta-algorithmic approaches. == Life == Marius Lindauer studied computer science at the University of Potsdam from 2005 to 2010. Under the supervision of Torsten Schaub and Holger Hoos, he received his Dr. rer. nat. at the University of Potsdam in 2015. In 2014, he joined the Machine Learning research lab led by Frank Hutter as the first postdoctoral researcher and helped to build up the group. He then joined the Leibniz University Hannover as a professor in 2019 to lead the Machine learning research lab. He founded the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at the Leibniz University Hannover in 2022. Additionally, he is the co-head of the automl.org research group, automl.space community effort, and co-founder of the COSEAL research network, where he currently serves as an advisory board member. He is also a supporting member of CLAIRE, and a member of ELLIS. His research is published in renowned journals and conferences. == Achievements == During his Ph.D., Marius won several international competitions in the fields of solving hard combinatorial optimization problems, including 1st place in the NP-track of the answer set programming competition 2011 with claspfolio, the Hard Combinatorial SAT+UNSAT of the SAT challenge 2012 with clasp-crafted and two tracks of the configurable SAT solver challenge 2013 with clasp-cssc. During his PostDoc and later on, he was involved in winning tracks of the first and second AutoML challenge with auto-sklearn and the black-box optimization challenge for machine learning at NeurIPS'20. == Research Directions == Marius has delved into many research topics, all of which are unified under the umbrella of automating parts of the Machine Learning pipeline. His research touches many different aspects: Hyperparameter Optimization Multi-Fidelity Optimization Automated Reinforcement Learning Interactive AutoML Green AutoML Explainable AutoML

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  • Selmer Bringsjord

    Selmer Bringsjord

    Selmer Bringsjord (born November 24, 1958) is a professor of computer science and cognitive science and a former chair of the Department of Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also holds an appointment in the Lally School of Management & Technology and teaches artificial Intelligence (AI), formal logic, human and machine reasoning, and philosophy of AI. == Biography == Bringsjord's education includes a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Brown University, where he studied under Roderick Chisholm. He conducts research in AI as the director of the Rensselaer AI & Reasoning (RAIR) Laboratory. He specializes in the logico-mathematical and philosophical foundations of AI and cognitive science, and in collaboratively building AI systems on the basis of computational logic. Bringsjord believes that "the human mind will forever be superior to AI", and that "much of what many humans do for a living will be better done by indefatigable machines who require not a cent in pay". Bringsjord has stated that the "ultimate growth industry will be building smarter and smarter such machines on the one hand, and philosophizing about whether they are truly conscious and free on the other". Bringsjord has an argument for P = NP using digital physics. Other research includes developing a new computational-logic framework allowing the formalization of deliberative multi-agent "mindreading" as applied to the realm of nuclear strategy, with the goal of creating a model and simulation to enable reliable prediction. He has published an opinion piece advocating for counter-terrorism security ensured by pervasive, all-seeing sensors; automated reasoners; and autonomous, lethal robots. Bringsjord received a National Science Foundation award to research Social Robotics and the Covey Award for the advancement of philosophy of computing awarded by the International Association for Computing And Philosophy, among several others prizes. == Books authored == with Yang, Y. Mental Metalogic: A New, Unifying Theory of Human and Machine Reasoning (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum).(2007) with Zenzen, M. Superminds: People Harness Hypercomputation, and More (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer). (2003) ISBN 978-1402010958 with Ferrucci, D. Artificial Intelligence and Literary Creativity: Inside the Mind of Brutus, A Storytelling Machine (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum).(2000) Abortion: A Dialogue (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett).(1997) What Robots Can and Can’t Be (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer).(1992) Soft Wars (New York, NY: Penguin USA). A novel.(1991)

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